Biomedical informatics (BMI) is the interdisciplinary, scientific field that studies and pursues the effective uses of biomedical data, information, and knowledge for scientific inquiry, problem solving and decision making, motivated by efforts to improve human health.

About

Mission Statement

The mission of The University of Texas School of Biomedical Informatics (SBMI) is to educate future scientists and professionals in biomedical informatics and health information technology, conduct informatics research to improve health care and advance biomedical discovery and develop advanced informatics tools to solve problems in health care.

SBMI's mission is consistent with UTHealth's mission:

As a comprehensive health science university, the mission of The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston is to educate health science professionals, discover and translate advances in the biomedical and social sciences, and model the best practices in clinical care and public health.

We pursue this mission in order to advance the quality of human life by enhancing the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease and injury, as well as promoting individual health and community well-being.

History

The University of Texas School of Biomedical Informatics at Houston (SBMI), formerly known as the School of Health Information Sciences (SHIS), was founded in 1972 as the School of Allied Health Sciences. The school is the newest of the six UTHealth schools. UTHealth is located in the world-renowned Texas Medical Center (TMC), one of the largest medical centers in the world.

In 1992, UTHealth determined it would focus on graduate education in the health sciences. At that time, the school began to shift from traditional allied health baccalaureate programs toward the development of graduate programs to join the other professional and graduate schools in the university. In 1997, the school created the Department of Health Informatics and began to offer a Master of Science in health informatics. In 2001, the school name was changed to the School of Health Information Sciences (SHIS), which also subsumed all faculty and students in the department. The school offered a Master of Science in health informatics, a Doctor of Philosophy in health informatics and a certificate program in Health Informatics for non-degree seeking students. In 2010, the school underwent another name change. SHIS became the School of Biomedical Informatics. SBMI currently offers certificate programs in health informatics, a Master of Science in Health Informatics with two tracks: a traditional research track and an applied health informatics track, a Doctor of Philosophy in Health Informatics and dual-degree programs with the School of Public Health.

Students

Nearly 200 students are working toward a degree or certificate from SBMI. The average age of SBMI's students ranges between 34 to 39.

Careers

Many of the master's degree alumni work in hospitals that are implementing electronic health record systems (EHRs). They analyze the EHR needs of the hospitals by assessing the number of users and then train workers to use the systems. Doctoral students generally work in academia after completing their degrees. In academia, they are able do research as well as teach.

Some other common jobs are:

systems analysts

informatics support analysts

informatics project managers

chief medical information officers

chief nursing information officer

Accreditation

The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston is accredited to award undergraduate, graduate, doctoral and professional degrees by: